Happy Friday, Panthers! Only 25 more days of school left, so we just have to keep on trekking along. While you are patiently awaiting summer, here are this week’s KICs. Headlines included the deadliest of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, Trump freezing federal funding to Harvard, police tasing protestors at a town hall meeting, local police uniting over a policeman’s wife battling cancer, and Trump’s budget proposal causing stirs in low income communities.
World – Russia attacks Ukraine in deadliest attack of the year
In a busy area of Ukraine, reporters and officials described missiles impacting the city, killing 34 civilians, two of which were children. An additional 117 people were injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymer Zelensky stated that the missiles were “ballistic.” The missiles hit a university building while the others smashed in the street. Ukrainian officers were targeted in the attack, but the location of their meetings purposely uses civilians as a shield from attacks.
President Donald Trump questioned the attack claiming he was told it was a mistake that Russia attacked Ukraine. Condolences were given to the families of the victims.
National – Trump Administration freezes over $2 billion in federal funding to Harvard University
This past Monday the federal government announced that they will freeze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value going toward Harvard University. The decision was made following Harvard’s refusal to comply with a list of 10 demands presented by the Trump administration.
The administration claims that the demands aimed to dismantle antisemitism on campus. The list of demands involved auditing viewpoints of the student body, eliminating all DEI programs and initiatives in exchange for “merit-based” policies, and restricting the acceptance of international students who are “hostile to the American values and institutions.” Similar demands were made out to other colleges including Columbia University.
University President Alan M. Garber said, “It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner.” He states that the attempt made by the Trump administration was ultimately “to control the Harvard community.”
State – Police tase protesters at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greens’s town hall event
Protesters were taken from the Acworth Community Center by police during a Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene event Tuesday. The disruption led to three protesters being arrested with two being tased and removed from the building.
Greene’s event was disrupted almost as soon as she came onto the stage platform. Police took immediate action in trying to remove the protesters while Greene congratulated the police for their quick work. Greene reminded those in attendance not to protest and that the intention to do so would have them removed. Greene continued with her event, bringing up Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man deported to El Salvador by “error” and accused the media of trying to defend him despite the conspiracy that he is a gang member.
After her statement, another protester was removed which Greene addressed by challenging Abergo Garcia’s legal status again even though he is a citizen of the US. Despite this, Greene received support from the audience of 80 people and commented that she supported the First Amendment as protesters continued outside.
Local – Local police forces unite for police chief’s wife who is battling breast cancer
Terri Milburn is the wife of Peachtree City police chief Janet Moon. Doctors diagnosed Terri Milburn with breast cancer after a routine mammogram check back in November 2024.
Milburn has been a patient at Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute. She is under care by Dr. Ruth Sacks and other doctors. Milburn was diagnosed last November with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ and then later the invasive form. A double mastectomy followed in January.
Terri had a hard time battling breast cancer and that it was even hard to say the word. However, Moon’s police station and other local police stations are wearing pink wristbands to show support in honor of Milburn and her fight against breast cancer.
Politics – Trump’s draft of budget proposal causes stir amongst low income households
The Trump administration is considering cutting two important federal funding programs which are used to help educate children and heat homes for low income housing. They want to cut the Head Start and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which support 800,000 children and 6 million households, respectively.
The goal for this draft is to cut around one-third of the discretionary federal health budget along with the goal to eliminate healthcare agencies. Both of the programs were impacted by the Trump administration’s purge of the federal workforce. Head Start and LIHEAP were both changed heavily under the new administration with RFK Jr. laying off the entire LIHEAP staff and 10,000 Head Start employees getting removed.
Worries for the programs come from many different people as Head Start employs more than 250,000 people and has nearly 18,000 buildings. LIHEAP supporters are steadily trying to get back to helping a similar number of people, but the cuts are making this difficult.